Conventional electric hand irons comprise a metal sole plate having an electric heating element embedded therein.
Ongoing established objectives for improving an electric hand iron include:                Reducing the weight of the hand iron, thereby reducing user fatigue.                    Improving the ergonomics of the hand iron, thereby increasing the efficiency of ironing and reducing user fatigue.                        Improving the aesthetics of a hand iron.        Improving the heating efficiency of the hand iron and its overall efficiency of power consumption.        Improving the reliability of electric hand irons.        Improving the longevity of hand irons        Improving the resistance to accidental breakage.        Improving the ease of manufacture of hand irons        Reducing the production costs.        
Whilst the majority of known hand irons have a metal sole plate, the use of a glass or ceramic sole plate has been proposed in the prior art. For example US 2008/0235998 discloses a hand iron having a ceramic glass sole plate which is heated by a thin film heating element.
However, the use of a glass or ceramic sole plate presents a set of additional and different problems to those present by the conventional metal sole plate. The new problems specific to a glass or ceramic sole plate include the following:                Glass or ceramic sole plates are prone to shattering or cracking due to sharp impact on the edges of the sole plate.        Glasses and ceramics are generally less ductile than metals, and therefore cannot easily be drilled or machined after being formed.        Small details are less easy to form in glasses or ceramics than in metals. This restricts the formation of fixing points for attaching a glass sole plate to the remainder of an iron.        Glass or ceramic materials are generally less heat conductive than metals, which means that relatively larger temperature differentials can occur across a glass or ceramic sole plate compared to a metal sole plate. Specific embodiments herein address some of the above problems concerned with the manufacture of an electric hand iron having a glass or ceramic sole plate.        